A Clockwork Orange Good Vs Evil

Is a person able to choose to be good or evil? The main character in A Clockwork Orange, written by Anthony Burgess, is in a constant battle to resist his urge to act in a violent manner. Alex undergoes many experiences to try and shape him into a person that is considered normal. However, he is never able to completely abandon his violent ways. Alex ultimately goes through a genuine moral transition on his own, when his freewill is recovered.

Many of the author’s life experiences helped to shape A Clockwork Orange. John Anthony Burgess Wilson was born February 1917 in Manchester England (Walker). As a young man, Burgess had the dream of becoming a composer. He intended to study this at the University of Manchester, but switched to studying

The book contains graphic violence that was unprecedented in 1962. Due to the extreme content the novel was completely banned in Britain shortly after it was published (Walker). At the start of the novel the reader is introduced to the main character, Alex, and his group of friends. It is quickly realized that these boys thrived on violence because the first few chapters are full of brutal assaults. Alex and his gang break into an author’s cottage. The boys destroy the home, beat him near death, and gang rape his wife. Soon after this tirade they plan a heist on an old woman’s home. Alex decides to complete this on his own, it quickly goes awry and the police are called. Alex’s “friends” are waiting for him outside the house, they beat him and leave him to be arrested. Alex is sentenced to spend the next 12 years in jail. About two years into his sentence Alex takes part in the murder of another inmate, so the government decides to attempt to condition him. This conditioning is referred to as Ludovico's Technique and used to place an aversion to violence in Alex. Soon the treatment is finished and Alex is released. Any act of violence now makes Alex extremely sick, this leaves him vulnerable and alone. Consequently, Alex stumbles into a town looking for shelter when a man in a cottage takes him in. This man, Alexander F., is revealed to be the same man that Alex and his gang attacked years ago. Once Alexander learns of Alex’s story he wants to use Alex as a martyr to eventually overthrow the current government. Eventually, Alexander recognizes Alex and changes his plans. He locks Alex in an apartment and intends to drive him to suicide and blame it on the government. Alex does eventually jump out the apartment window, but lives. After he wakes up Alex realizes that Alexander has been put in jail and the government and reversed the effects of Ludovico’s Technique. They also set Alex up with a